Chapter 12:
Shigure opened the door and smiled brightly at the two girls in front of him. "Hana-chan! Uo-chan! It's so nice to see Tohru-kun's friends coming so often!" As it should be, Shigure was clueless about the plan.
Uotani winked and saluted, "Yo!" in a tomboyish way. Hana did nothing until Shigure got them to come in. They quickly went to the kitchen where they knew Tohru was. She was already preparing the ingredients for Shigure's cake and she smiled brightly to her two friends.
"Hana-chan, Uo-chan! You're just in time! Can you help me with the other dishes?" She asked.
"Sorry, Tohru, I can't cook." Uotani said, looking out into the living room where Shigure just vanished into his office.
"I'll help you, Tohru-kun." Hana said in a creepy way to others. But not to the ever innocent Tohru. Tohru smiled happily, thanking her helpful friend. She suggested Hana to start with cutting up the onions. But just as Hana was just about to bring down the blade into the onion, her hand froze!
"Hana-chan, what's wrong?"
"Tohru…. I can't move my hand…" Hana lifelessly said.
"Oh no, are you alright?"
"I will be, if I don't move it for a while." Hana cradled her hand for effect and quickly, Tohru snatched the knife from her hand and said with a determined look,
"Alright, Hana-chan, you shouldn't help me with cooking! Please, rest your hands."
"Alright, Tohru-kun, I'll just do what I can to help."
Later…
"Eh? What the hell is this?" Kyou said, looking at Hanajima who stood frozen at the doorway with a sign that says, "Do not Disturb" stationed before her chest.
"Tohru is busy. You shouldn't disturb her." She said, again, in a creepy tone.
Kyou's goosebumps had goosebumps. He shook it off, remembering that he was hungry.
"Kyou-kun, what's this all about?" Shigure sang happily, patting Kyou on the shoulder seeing that the cat was tense. Looking over the cat's shoudler, he saw the sign, "Do not Disturb"
At the sight of him, Kyou got nervous! Oh no, what if he suddenly finds out? "N-N-Nothing!" he yelled loudly.
Seeing the cat tense at the sight of him, Shigure had the suspicious feeling. What were these kids up to? Hm…how to find out? Shigure grinned slyly. "Oh, Kyou, Hana-chan, is that Tohru's down there?" he pointed at their feet. Both Kyou and Hana looked down at the same time and Shigure ran right past them! Although his victory was short lived since he skidded to a stop when he encountered Uotani.
"NANI!" Shigure said, seeing the second barrier he didn't expect.
Uotani lifted a sign with one hand that said, "You asked for it" and as soon as Shigure finished reading it, he saw Uo holding onto a big baseball bat! The room seemed to have shrunk and suddenly the temperature became increasingly hot. Shigure gulped at the sight of the baseball bat and the dangerous Yankee. Should he gamble it?
Uo swung the bat forward, Shigure ducked. The bat almost hit him and Shigure decided, "Definitely not!" he ran back to the living room to join Kyou who looked angrily at him. Shigure shrugged and smiled sheepishly, "It was worth a try, ne?"
"This is ridiculous! No one's getting in my way!" Kyou declared, stepping to the left. Hana blocked. He stepped to the right. Hana blocked. Aggravated, he growled and said, What the HELL!" swiftly, he pushed Shigure towards Hana. Shigure, unprepared, flailed his arms around and tip toed just to keep away from the scary Hanajima whose dempa just rose. It was like a silent warning, 'touch me and you're dead.'
As this occurred, Kyou ran forward, skidding into a halt at the sight of Uotani. He read the sign, "You asked for it." And without warning, Uo stuffed leak into his mouth! Kyou paled and almost fainted at the disgusting taste of leak! He ran away, back into the safety of the living room!
"Everyone should learn how to understand signs." Hanajima said. Kyou glared daggers at her, being sore as he was. Shigure just moped.
"Well if I'm not welcome in my own kitchen, I don't know where I belong anymore…" Shigure sighed, tears streaking his animated face.
"Oh, shut up!" Kyou said. Suddenly, there was a beeping noise and everyone looked curiously at Shigure. Shigure smiled sheepishly and looked at his watch. "What the hell?" Kyou said. It wasn't always that he saw Shigure with a watch, much less a watch with an alarm. Since when was Shigure following a schedule?
"Oops, I gotta go! I'll be back by seven, ja ne minna-san! Kyou, take care of my little flower for me while I'm away!" He said, floating towards the door. A random object hit him hard on the head from behind and Kyou yelled angrily,
"WHO'S LITTLE FLOWER!"
A while later, Momiji, Haru, Kisa, Hero and Hatori had already arrived. Kisa was helping Tohru with the dishes and Hero helped with getting a few devices from the shelves. But not without the random sharp insults he throws Tohru's way every thirty seconds or so. Tohru simply smiled and waved it off, her patience never wavering.
At the living room, Uo and Hana drank tea together with Hatori. They sat in silence, no one spoke and no one bothered. Kyou sulked up in his room and often went back into the bathroom to brush his teeth. The taste of leak still lingered in his mouth and he didn't like it one bit! Momiji and Haru were out buying the party poppers for when Shigure arrives.
Hatori's cellphone rang and he answered it alertly. After speaking briefly, he hung up. "Shigure's coming. Ayame is with him."
Hana nodded in understanding and Uo left to tell Tohru and the others. There was a long while of silence up until Hana decided to speak. "You came early."
"I didn't want to be late."
"Time is just something humans made themselves. It's obsolete."
"I agree completely." They looked at each other, understanding in both their eyes. Hana knew and so did Hatori that they had a lot in common. Hana broke the eye contact and raised the glass to her lips. Hatori's eye lingered on her and nothing but her. Up until a silver ring caught his eyes. What was that? He'd never seen it on her before. Was it new? If so, who gave it to her?
"That ring." he mentioned. Hana looked down at her hand and then to him. "Who is it from?" he asked vivaciously. He would never have been this rude and intrusive if he was himself. But right then, he wasn't feeling like himself. Something was eating him inside, demanding to know who gave her a ring and put it on her ring finger!
Hana took her time, staring at him and calculating her answer. "Yuki."
Something in Hatori snapped like an overly tightened string finally giving up. Hatori concealed it but Hana saw through his façade because of the sudden wildness of his waves. Why was he angry? Jealous. He was jealous. Of whom? Yuki? Why? Because of the ring? Why?
"I see." Was all he answered.
"I'm glad…" she started, taking his attention. "I'm glad you came." She said, slowly turning her gaze towards him. Their eyes once again locked and this time, something calmed Hatori down. The small, unnoticable smile on her face; that was the smile he called the Mona Lisa smile. A smile that could sink ships and drowns men into the deep pools of nothingness inside her eyes. That was the smile he'd always felt attracted to. The very rare smile Kanna once showed him.
When Shigure came, Ayame right behind him, everyone jumped from their hiding places and popped the poppers. Confetti flew all over as animated tears flowed freely down his chibi face. "Oh, I'm so touched! I didn't think you guys would remember! Oh, this is the happiest day of my life!" he wailed as he approached Tohru happily with arms wide open as if to hug. And, predictably, Kyou intercepted and punched the perverted dog upside the head.
"BAKA HENTAI!"
Everyone seated themselves at the dining table and the girls served the array of delicious looking dishes! Everyone ate merrily and everyone had a smile on their face. Tohru looked around with satisfaction. Everyone was happy. Shigure was talking to Ayame who sat beside him. Haru talked politely to Kisa and Hero. Uo and Kyou argued about who was getting the last bit of sushi. Momiji was talking to her and Hana was quietly sitting beside Hatori. The only one missing was Yuki and Kagura.
"Momiji-kun, where's Kagura-san?" she asked.
"Oh, Haru didn't tell me why but he said she couldn't go."
"Oh…" she said with a crestfallen face. Well that explains the absence of Kagura. Then the only one truly missing was Yuki. Where could he be? She understood that Yuki would be late but still. She couldn't help but worry.
"Oh, presents?" Shigure said, accepting the gift Kisa shyly gave him.
"Hai." She said, "It's from me and Hero-kun." Hero huffed from behind her and looked away. "Happy birthday, Shigure-san." She smiled.
"Arigatou, Kisa-chan!" instead of opening it right then and there, Shigure stashed it under the table. He'd open it later.
After a longer while of gift giving, Tohru finally took out the cake and laid it in front of Shigure. She lit the candle and said, "Make a wish!" enthusiastically.
"Arigatou, minna-san." Shigure whispered as he made his wish in his mind, closing his eyes with a small boyish smile he's been using unusually often nowadays.
Hatori looked from the cake to Shigure, to Hanajima. She was beautiful with the candlelight. The lights were turned off so everything else was swallowed in darkness. She was the only thing he saw now. Hanajima and her enchanting mystery. Her empty eyes twinkled with shared mirth as Shigure blew the candle. She was happy for him, so it seemed. And he was glad to have gone to this party. He didn't regret it. Not one bit.
The doorbell rang. Everyone looked to it and Haru decided to open the door. As he slid the shoji doors open, his eyes widened to see Yuki there, panting and dripping with sweat. Was he running? It looked that way?
"Did—did everyone go home?" Yuki said through heavy panting.
"No, Shigure-san just finished making a wish." Haru explained.
Yuki went straight to the dining room, wiping his sweat with his sleeve and peered around the room. There was Hanajima. A smile cam upon his face. She waited. She didn't leave. She waited for him.
"Yuki-kun!" Ayame acknowledged. He patted the empty seat next to him, the empty space in between him and Hanajima. "Better late than never, ne, little brother!" he laughed loudly again and flipped his hair. He was such a man-pretty.
Yuki quickly went to the empty seat and steadied his breath, looking at Hanajima. Tohru looked at them, sitting together, then turned away. She quieted herself and ignored the thoughts running through her head.
As Ayame and Shigure went on making racket with their mouths and vocal cords, Yuki smiled at Hanajima who looked back at him. "Am I too late?" he asked.
"No," Hana said, "Just in time." From inside her long black sleeve, she took out a small lace handkerchief. She offered it to him but he refused, saying he couldn't possibly. Hana smiled, so the prince charming act wasn't just an act after all? He was built in with a personality of a gentleman then? How quaint. "Take it." With a bit of hesitance and shyness, Yuki took the handkerchief and wiped his forehead off of sweat.
"Arigatou, Hana-chan." He said. He was glad to finally call her what he'd been calling her in his mind all this time. He was tired of knowing so much about her and feeling so close her but still not be able to say her name informally.
At the mention of the nickname, everyone stopped anything and everything they were doing and stared at Yuki. It seemed like time itself stopped. Someone made noise in the room and everyone turned to Tohru who fumbled to stand up and go. "I-I'll just get some drinks in the kitchen."
Kyou, sensing her distress, knitted his eyebrows and went after her.
When the party resumed, later that night, Hatori looked out of the balcony. He lit his cigarette and puffed as he stared at the full moon. Thoughts ran through his mind, questions he dared not ask tonight. He didn't even want to think about it. Was he starting to regret coming? No, he wasn't. Without warning, the door opened. He turned sharply to see Hanjima there, looking at him.
"Hanajima-san." He acknowledged.
"You want to be alone?" she said, walking slowly towards him.
Hatori calculated his next move, "No." she stopped in front of him, standing beside him at the balcony. "You?"
She looked out into the night, "I always am."
Out of nowhere, Hatori asked, "May I see the ring?" Hana raised an eyebrow at him but took of her ring anyway. She handed it to him, her fingers lightly grazing his palm. Their first physical contact. He looked at the ring perceptively. It was not special. It looked cheap.
Suddenly, out of the blue, Kyou came flying through the doors. Black Haru had gotten into a fight with the temper-mental cat and everyone had watched up until Haru threw Kyou to the door. Kyou hit Hatori and Hatori, caught by surprise, widened his eyes and grabbed the railings to keep from falling from a two-story building.
Hanajima's eyes widened at the sight of the silver band flying out of Hatori's eyes. With uncharacteristic swiftness, Hana jumped! She extended her arms, trying to reach the shining ring. Someone yanked her other arm back roughly and she hit the hard roof. She looked up to see Kyou holding onto her hand and the railing, looking down at her with incredulous eyes. "What do you think you're doing!" he yelled at her.
She could see everyone coming to the balcony, looking down at them. Kyou helped her back up into the balcony and she choked back a yelp from the pang she felt on her left thigh. "Hana-chan!" Yuki exclaimed with worry.
"Tell me where it hurt." Hatori quickly and sternly said. Hana looked down at her leg where blood started staining her long black skirt. Hatori gently set her down to sit and apologized before tearing her skirt, revealing her shapely long legs. It would have been enticing if it wasn't for the large cut on her thigh.
Everyone stared for a while then, simultaneously, blood dripped from their noses. Yuki, used to seeing Hana's legs while he was still Prince, coughed loudly to tell everyone they were being rude. No one seemed to notice him, so he stood in front of the group. As if the group was one whole being, he pushed them far enough until they were all out of the room. Satisfied with that, he slammed the door shut. Perverts.
He turned back to Hana and Hatori. Hatori turned to him, "Get me hot water. I'll need to clean her wound." Yuki nodded with discipline and went out to get what Hatori asked for. Hatori turned his attention back to Hana, who held her balled fists to her chest where her heart lays. "Does it hurt anywhere else?"
Hana looked down into her hands, the ring glistening under the moonlight. A small smile creeped into her face and she closed her eyes with relief. "I'm alright."
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